Pedal the Plains planning meeting

The subject of Thursday's Community Conversations was the visit of Pedal the Plains, a large Colorado bike tour, scheduled to stop off in La Junta on Sept. 21.

The subject of Thursday's Community Conversations was the visit of Pedal the Plains, a large Colorado bike tour, scheduled to stop off in La Junta on Sept. 21.

Chamber of Commerce President Jake Pruyn took the group gathered at The Barista through the organizational brochure point by point, being sure to point out that the more community involvement, the better.

Pedal the Plains will bring its own trash recycling system, top entertainment, vans and support services. What they need is street entertainment, vendors for food and other things, people to schlep their luggage to their camping sites, access to restrooms, camping sites (arranged around Otero Junior College and Koshare Kiva area) and a warm La Junta welcome. They are putting up $2,000 for an opener band, $1000 for an art project and other considerations. Mike Pruyn, last year's Chamber president, pointed out that this is probably the best tourism opportunity La Junta has ever had. "Show them a good time and they will want to come back," said Pruyn.

The entertainment will be centered in the downtown area of Second and Third streets, with some areas blocked off. The shops downtown are urged to stay open to welcome shopping and dining. Food vendors will be on the side away from the cafes. Many will be in costume for the event, Clara Lee and Ed Stafford for sure, and Dr. Pickatune will be invited.

The group had a plethora of ideas. How about kids on horses riding alongside when they go by CBR on their way out? How about roasting green chile downtown for the food feature? The season will be right. How about cups of cubed cantaloupe iced down for a rest stop along the way? What about mariachis downtown?

People may volunteer in any capacity. The more volunteers, the better. Some will be appointed as the people who know everything about the town, and there will be training sessions. A few houses will be needed for those who prefer to stay at a private home, but most of the cyclists just like to camp out.

Any citizen of La Junta who wishes may submit ideas on how we can make this the best time Pedal the Plains has ever had. Just write them down and drop them off at the Chamber office downtown (110 Santa Fe Ave.) with your contact information or email info@lajuntachamber.com. They want the suggestions in written form so they may be considered in meetings and implementation worked out.

In the midst of all the excitement, Lynn Horner announced that he will run for mayor. If elected, he will conduct a thorough community assessment to get the opinions of all the people on where La Junta is going and catalog the assets. The information packet will be put together and brought back for a planning session. There have been great ideas before that went nowhere. He said that a thorough community assessment is a foundation for grants and funding. What do we want our community to be? We need an idea of a plan and concept for the city, divided into two-year, five-year and 10-year goals. We need to know what we want and how we're going to get there in order to make our city a better place to live.